people think television should be great training for theater, but it's not. jenna: so what's your role on saturday? jon: i'm the villain. jenna: oh. jon: yes. jenna: very provocative, jon. we'll definitely show some clips of that, right? jon: we'll see. if i hit my notes. thanks for joining us. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert on what has become a must-see event in campaign 2012, tonight's vice presidential debates. welcome to "america live," everyone, i'm megyn kelly, reporting live from danville, kentucky, where less than eight hours from right now vice president joe biden and republican nominee paul ryan will face off for the first and only time in this contest. new video just in to the fox newsroom showing mr. biden arriving in kentucky for tonight's big debate, and the debate comes as the romney/ryan ticket today opens up its biggest lead of in this entire election. the republicans leading by a full point now i in the real

clear politics average of all polls, that's the first time that's happened since mitt romney secured the nomination. you can see the course of the last year with the blue line for president obama and the red line for mitt romney. and you can bet that this means new pressure for the vice president going into tonight. chris stirewalt is our fox news digital politics editor and host of "power play" on foxnews.com live. when i prepared for this event today, chris, the daytime show now and the prime time coverage later, the experts told me in the materials i read that the vice presidential debates never really move the election that much, the most it's moved is three points. and i said to myself, three points is a lot in an election like this one. >> three points is a lot when you have a one-point gap, megyn. first, let me say, you are in a beautiful place in america, you are in a wonderful spot, and it's going to be a great fisticuffs tonight, so i'm very jealous. you're doing something awesome.

megyn: thanks, chris. >> three point would be a big deal in this race where seldom has anybody been up -- the president's seen leads of over four points, but certainly if mitt romney were up four, that would be an awful big deal if that were to happen. the problem for joe biden is, you're right, the pressure is high in this debate because of the president's beating, the beating that he took at the hands of mitt romney last week means that joe biden, who is known for his gaffes and is known to struggle verbally and is known to have a lot of difficulties when it comes to getting his point across, that he's the guy that's got to carry the ball right now. and that is a lot of pressure on the vice president. megyn: it's pressure on him, it's also opportunity for him. it's led already to some pundits and some comedians having a little fun at the vice president's expense including this little nugget from saturday night live. watch this. >> biggest winner, america. is in anything more exciting

than joe biden thinking it's up to him to get the -- [laughter] it's tivo time. there's like a 50% chance he's going to come out at the next debate with his shirt off. [laughter] cover himself with animal fat right now to make himself harder to grab. [laughter] megyn: so, i mean, it's funny to think that it's up to vice president biden to get the lead back and what will he do to get it, but truly, does he have to do something more than just maintain the status quo tonight, chris? >> well, he definitely can't pain tape the status quo because the status quo is loss for the obama/biden ticket. that's not good. so what he wants to do -- the best case scenario for joe biden going into this x this is why they've kept him out of circulation, they've prepped him because of his propensity for gaffing and because of the problems that he so often has on the trail. they've kept him under wraps for a wile. and i think probably the hope was he could just sort of run out the clock and be avuncular,

friendly as the president calls him, sheriff joe. and just be this, this character that people may not have great esteem for, but that they find to be funny and likable. and do that against paul ryan and run out the clock and not change the discussion of the debate. but democrats are very angry at the president for not being tougher, as the president said too polite, when it came to mitt romney. so now to us in falls to the vice president who's an attack dog by nature to come out and really sink his teeth into paul ryan. megyn: avuncular meaning like your uncle. something i had to look up. [laughter] you and i have had a lot of discussions about joe biden because he does make some gaffes at times, and i have maintained in some of our discussions that he's still, nonetheless, very likable to most americans. and he talks directly to people in a way that they understand. but look at the favorability ratings here. this is the latest one from pew which shows him with a 39%

likability, paul ryan ahead by five points with 44% likability. and then the vice president has way bigger unfavorable ratings than paul ryan does. and our own fox news poll showed similar results. how did he get to that point? because that is a fall from grace for biden, mr. biden, from 2008 when he was going up against sarah palin. >> sure. well, look, part of it, the irony here for the vice president and the president is that the democratic base is demanding more attacks, less civillivity. the president lost in favorability to mitt romney, for goodness sakes, mitt romney edged him in the fox poll on favorability. they've been attacking, the president and the vice president have been doing mostly attacking mostly on character, mostly personal attacks on tear opponents for five or six months. i would submit that has taken a heavy toll on the favorability and even the likability of the democratic ticket. and it looks like they're gonna

have to keep it up to keep their base satisfied. but i don't know that that that's going to please swing voters. megyn: yeah. that underscores the problems going into a night like tonight. after a night like last week. chris stirewalt, thank you, sir. >> you bet. megyn: conservative and liberal bloggers are doing battle over a question of bias ahead of tonight's debate. the moderator is martha raddatz, she was chosen by the commission on presidential debates to do this. she has touched off a bit of a debate in the last few days. trace gallagher is tracking that piece of the story. >> martha raddatz is much more apt to be covering war than politics, she stopped covering the white house back in 2008. she is feern affair -- senior affairs correspondent. quoting here: dodging political barbs at the debate might be more frightening than dodging

bullets in war zone because you don't wear body armor. the controversy stems from her 1991 wedding to julius genachowski. he invited all of his class mates from then the harvard law review, including barack obama. obama later was called upon or genachowski later was called upon by obama to head up the federal communications commission. now, raddatz, who divorced genachowski in 997, said she never had a friendship with barack obama, and the commission on presidential debates says it was aware of the wedding guest list when raddatz was considered for this position, in fact, the wedding also included a member of the george w. bush administration. abc news sent out a scathing response saying, quoting here: this reckless and pitiful attempt to attack martha in the lead-up to the vp debate is nothing more than a desperate my for web traffic and attention when what the american public wants is a thoughtful and probing debate on the great

issues of the day. still, if you read the blogs, many are questioning martha raddatz's objectivity. again, she divorced the head of the fcc back in 1997. she has since been married to ben bradley jr., the son of "the washington post" editor. she is now married to a correspondent for npr. martha? megyn: i'm megyn. she's martha. [laughter] but it does make you wonder. if barack obama was the friend of her now-ex-husband, on the one hand he attended her wedding, but on the other hand, she divorced that guy. so, you know, query whether the loyalty is still there whether it was in the first place. trace, thank you. the proof is always in the pudding. a lot of political journalists have a bias, a lot of folks are rooting for one candidate or another, the question is whether they show it this their performance. keep it right here, folks, for the vice presidential debate. it is the one and only chance you will have to see these running mates go toe to toe.

join bret baier and me more live coverage and analysis beginning at 8:55 p.m. eastern time. we will take the debate live, and then we will have full analysis after the debate right here on fnc. well, 2008's vice presidential debate between sarah palin and joe biden drew almost 70 million the viewers -- tv viewers, the most ever for a vice presidential debate. >> i may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but i'm going to talk straight to the american people and let 'em know my track record also. megyn: governor palin joins us live right after this bedebate with her experience in going up against joe biden. and new questions today on how a man was able to get what seems like an arsenal of weapons complete with body bags and bulletproof vests onto a plane. and wait until you hear what he said to the authorities. and a horrifying story out of pakistan, a 14-year-old girl is making significant progress after being shot by the taliban

for going to school. why threats to her life may not be over yet. >> she was attacked and shot by have an education and don'trls want girls to speak for themselves and don't want girls to become leaders. so you say men are superior drivers? yeah. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands?

megyn: well, the showdown is set to go tonight here in danville, kentucky. this is the stage where vice president biden and congressman paul ryan will go toe to toe. four years ago some said joe biden was careful not to be too aggressive in his match-up with governor sarah palin. but today there is word of a very different plan. they are saying the gloves will be off. the 2008 debate in st. louis was one of the most-watched ever for the vice presidential candidates, 70 million tv viewers tuned in.

and here's a look back at some of the most memorable moments. [cheers and applause] >> nice to meet you. hey, can i call you joe? >> you sure can. >> okay, thanks. thank you, gwen. thank you. ahmadinejad, kim jung-il, the castro brothers, others who are dangerous dictators are ones that barack obama has said he would be willing to meet with without preconditions being met first. the chant is drill, baby, drill, and that's what we hear all across this country at our rallies because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into. i may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or you want to hear, but i'm going to talk straight to american people. it's so obvious that i'm a washington outsider, and someone just not used to the way you guys operate because here you voted for the war, and now you oppose the war. you one who says, you know, as so many politicians does i was

for it before i was against it or vice versa. megyn: that, of course, was then-governor sarah palin, and she joins me now, right now live. >> she is, of course, the 2008 vice presidential candidate on the gop ticket. governor, welcome back to the program. great to see you. it's fun to look at those clips, and i'm sure it's more fun four years removed from it than it was the morning of. take us back to that day as you were preparing to go up against joe biden. what were you being told to expect about his debate style? >> well, first, i've never seen clips of the debate, i've never watched any of those reruns -- megyn: really? >> -- four years ago from the acceptance speech, the debate, no. life goes on, and i don't rehash the past. but, um, i remember being handed about a week before the debate a stack of 5x8 cards about, you know, this high full of facts and figures that had to do with john mccain's voting record

and campaign operatives wanted me to memorize many, many, many, in fact, all of those facts and pieces of data so that i would, my message would coincide with john mccain's. at the end of the day, though, that vp debater has just got to be themselves, they have to stand on their own record and what it is that they would propose in cooperation with the top of the ticket, the presidential nominee, and, um, just tell the truth. and that is what americans are going to crave tonight is just to hear candidness and the truth from joe bide season and from paul ryan. joe biden and from paul ryan. megyn: in these debates, of course, they try to prepare you and try to beat up on you more than you'll get beat up on when you get out there. that's what they've been doing on both sides. they are having ted olson, the former solicitor general, play joe biden as paul ryan prepares for tonight's debate. who played joe biden when you

were getting ready to debate him, and was the real one or the fake one tougher to debate? >> i remember that randy signman played joe biden for at least one of our debate prep exercise exercises, and i remember staring him down going are you really going to be such a stinker in this debate prep? he hammered me left and right, but that is good prep. megyn, i think it's going to be very, very important for paul ryan to do what i attempted to do, and that's try to coax out of joe biden his rationale for all the flip-flops. he had just come out of a primary season where he was beating the heck out of barack obama and the positions barack obama had taken as a senator all those years, and then the minute he was chosen for the vp nomination on the democrat ticket, joe biden all of a sudden said that barack obama then was the smartest boy in the room and that he was walking on water. and i so wanted to understand what all the flip-flops were and the positions that he had taken then going from senator to vp

nominee. i hope that paul ryan gets to coax that out of him because it's very important for the electorate to understand how politicians can change their minds, tear policies, their principles -- their policies, their principles, their foundational substance so quickly according to politics, not principle. megyn: do you think that either of these men will be nervous tonight? joe biden's had some 18 debates under his belt just in the recent election cycles because, of course, he was running for the democratic nomination, didn't get it, lost to barack obama, but had a lot of debates on the democratic side, and paul ryan, he's a seven-term congressman, but this is really the first time, you know, on a national six as it was for you -- ticket as it was for you. do you think there will be nerves on either side? >> i don't think so. i think joe biden decades and decades and decades, probably longer tan you've been alive, megyn, he has been part of the political scene, and i think you get kind of numb to what people

are saying about you and to you at that point in terms of anything that would gin up a nervousness. i think joe biden especially is like, you know, it's another day. i think who's nervous tonight is barack obama because he certainly wants to see the debate shift in terms of attention being deflected from his poor performance, his arrogance, his aloofness, his disconnection that he really exuded in his own debate performance last week. and he wants to see the public start talking about something else. and they will talk about something else, and that's the debate results after tonight. megyn: wanted to ask you about one other topic before i let you go, and that is the associated press is getting criticism the this week for a photo tehran of mitt romney. he offered to do a photo opportunity with some young kids, and a photographer shot a picture of him that is unflattering and looks ridiculous, and the little girl was just excited the governor was going to pose with them, but obviously this photo suggests

something else. they came out and apologized for the caption but not for the photo. you yourself had something happen when you were running where the ap chose to run a photo of your legs with young boys look up at you. do you think that this is media bias, or is it, you know, a forgivable mistake? >> hell, yeah, it's media bias, and it's also some sexism when you consider what the response to mitt romney's photo is which is degrading and associated press, they're jerks for having run that even with the caption. i mean, absolute jerks and biased who have tried to taint some people's view of mitt romney by running this photo. it's embarrassing. but when you consider people's responses to what this picture is, i don't remember a whole lot of people getting too wee weed up about the photos that were run of me four years ago including the young men that looked like they were looking at my legs or up my skirt even. last night even on bill o'reilly, he did a piece on this

segment. i don't know if he did a piece on that when it happened to me or maybe some other women over the years. so i think it's still kind of a telltale sign of a little bit of sexism in our society that we really need to overcome so that we can all move forward. megyn: all right. you've got to -- i know as the mother of, you know, a young girl who went through a lot when you were running, you've got to feel for the little girl who is pictured there in a way i'm sure her parents didn't anticipate. governor, it's great to see you. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you so much. megyn: we're taking your thoughts on it. follow me on twitter @megyn kelly. let me know what you think about the photo and about the stakes tonight as we await the big event here in danville. new developments today with the 14-year-old girl who defied the taliban and nearly died in the process. former first lady laura bush and hundreds of thousands of others are rushing to this teenager's defense as the terrorists who tried to kill her once make new threats about what happens if

she survives. plus, both the state department and white house took hard questions on the terror attack in benghazi this week. former white house press secretary dana perino is here to weigh in live on whether the white house has now cleared itself of the charge that it covered up what happened with these benghazi attacks or whether it's digging a deeper -- structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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♪ megyn: well, three people have now died following a parking garage collapse in miami yesterday. investigators say the latest victim had been buried for about 13 hours before he was rescued. he was not able to survive his injuries. the garage at miami-dade college was under construction when it collapsed yesterday. eight other workers were injured. no students were in the construction zone at the time of the collapse, but the campus was evacuated and closed for the rest of the week.

pakistan now offering $100,000 reward for the capture to have man who tried to kill a teenage activist. the girl was shot as she walked home from school. she remains hospitalized and in critical condition. supporters have rallied and marched in pakistan on her behalf as the pakistan taliban takes respondent for the a-- responsibility for the attempted assassination. it has sent shock waves around the world. jennifer driven has -- griffin has an update. >> reporter: hi, megyn. well, she's been moved to an army hospital in the capital of pakistan. doctors there say she has a 70% chance of survival right now. the taliban, however, are threatening to kill her if she does survive. this 14-year-old girl stood up to the taliban, she stood up for girls' education in pakistan. schools in pakistan were renamed after her. she's being called a modern day anne frank by former first lady

laura bush who wrote in an editorial in "the washington post" this morning, quote: we must speak up before these acts occur, work to insure they do not happen again and keep our courage to continue to resist the ongoing cruelty and barbarism of the taliban. malala refused to look the other way. we owe it to her courage and sacrifice to do the same. >> i know that the president found the news reprehensible and disgusting and tragic. we strongly condemn the shooting of malala. >> reporter: there's been a backlash in pakistan by schoolgirls shorting malala is alive. the world first got to know her when she began writing a blog in 2009 after the taliban shut down and burned down 150 girls' schools in her village 175 miles from the capital, islamabad. quote: i felt hurt on opening my

wardrobe and seeing my uniform, school bag and geometry box, she wrote in her blog. boys' schools are opening tomorrow, but the taliban have banned girls' education. that was back in 2009. the u.s. military is offering to send an air ambulance and to take malala, the 14-year-old who was shot by the taliban, to a military base where u.s. military doctors who have a lot of experience in these kind of brain injuries could work on rin army hospital in pakistan. megyn? megyn: all right. jennifer, thank you. well, new bombshell accusations against cyclist lance armstrong as a federal whistleblower lawsuit exposes his alleged role in what some are calling the most sophisticated doping ring in modern sports history. but could losing his seven tour de france titles just the beginning of his troubles? was it all a lie? plus, sean smith is one of the four americans who lost their lives when terrorists attacked our consulate in libya.

now his mother has some fierce criticism for the obama administration. what she is saying, and we ask, who needs to talk to her as the search for truth continues? >> given the information that you saw on tv and your knowledge of the situation in libya, did you come to a conclusion as to whether this was a terrorist act or whether it was based on some film that was on the internet? lieutenant colonel wood. >> it was instantly recognizable to me as a terrorist attack. >> instantly recognizable. >> yes, sir. >> and why is that? >> mainly because of my prior knowledge there. i almost expected the attack to come. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. megyn: well, it was exactly one month ago today that terrorists stormed the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, and murdered four americans including our ambassador. four weeks later there are still so many questions about exactly how this happened, what the white house knew and when they knew it. yesterday lawmakers tried to get answers, grilling state department staffers and security officers. and our chief intelligence correspondent, catherine herridge, is here with what we have learned since then. >> reporter: thank you, megyn, and good afternoon. based on my reporting, there is a new and strong focus on a briefing given friday, september 14th, by david petraeus the members of the house intelligence committee, and sources confirmed to fox the

trace was very much wedded to the administration's youtube video explanation. and without discussing classified information, congressman peter king -- who says he has great respect for general petraeus -- was clearly not satisfied and puzzled by what they were told. >> director petraeus gave the briefing, and, you know, based on what we've learned since, really a lot of what we were told at that briefing was inadequate. now, i don't know the reason for it, but if -- especially on what we know now, that there was more information available, that was not told to us that day. >> reporter: congressman king is asking secretary of state clinton to designatal sharia as a foreign terrorist organization which gives the u.s. government tools to track, punish and freeze their assets. one theme really dominated at the hearing yesterday into the 9/11 attack at the consulate, and it was that official washington was preoccupied with reducing the number of american security personnel or their footprint in benghazi even after a series of attacks on dip 40 mats there.

>> -- diplomats there. >> it's not the hardships u it's not the threats, it's dealing and fighting against the people, programs and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me. and i added it by saying for me the taliban is on the inside of the building. >> reporter: yesterday ambassador kennedy, the most senior state department official to testify before the oversight committee, responded to his subordinate's characterization. >> they're extraordinary professionals. and i was simply surprised to hear language like that used. >> reporter: at the hearing, ambassador kennedy said within a day he personally believed it was terrorism, but he argued anyone in the administration would have said what ambassador rice said on the sunday talk shows five days after the attack, that it appeared to be a demonstration that spun out of control. these themes are not inconsistent, but they were certainly confusing, and we were told the state department was not happy with kennedy's performance on the hill yesterday, megyn. megyn: wow. all right, catherine, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome.

megyn: at least one of the mothers is expressioning frustration about the lack of explanation she's received about her son's death in libya. sean smith was a 10-year veteran of the state department. he was married and a father of two. yesterday his mother told cnn, quote: the things they are telling me are outright lies. leon panetta and said, trust me, i will tell you what happened. and so far he's told me nothing. marc thiessen is a fellow at the american enterprise institute and a former speech writer for president george w. bush. julie rah gin sky is a fox news contributor. so this poor mother who all of our hearts go out to her says she told president obama personally, you screwed up, you at no time do a good job, i -- you didn't do a good job. and she still feels as though she is being stonewalled. marc, in light of what we heard at these extraordinary hearings yesterday, there may be some other folks out there who feel

the same way. >> absolutely. look, i mean, this administration's been focused on deflecting blame instead of projecting resolve, and that's the problem we face here. the people responsible for this attack, let's be clear r the terrorists. but what emboldens terrorists a to attack us is the perception that they can kill our citizens with impunity. and that perception has only grown in the month since this attack. president obama's been focusing on deflecting blame instead of pinning blame on the terrorists who were responsible for this attack. instead of projecting resolve and delivering justice to the people who did this, he spent the last month trying to blame this on an internet video or covering it up. and that sends a signal of weakness. what somebody needs to explain to this great american, lost american's mother is why have we not done anything about this in the last month? why is it that the president has not avenged his death and the death of ambassador stephens and -- stevens and others? to put that failure in context, after the first 9/11, the bush

administration organized the full scale of invasion of afghanistan in just over three weeks. it's taken obama three weeks to send fbi agents to benghazi. so we're sending a signal of weakness and paralysis, and as we learned on september 11th 2001 and 2012, weakness is provocative. megyn: julie, pat smith's grief is real, but i don't want to make this all about her n. the same way brian terry's family grieves for him in the fast and furious operation, but that story's not entirely about him. it's about our government and its decisions and its honesty and transparency with the american people. and, you know, having witnessed those hearings yesterday, do you think that there are legitimate questions still out there about whether there was adequate security, whether they responded to the demands being made for more security on the ground at our consulate in benghazi and whether this administration has been transparent and open and truthful with us in the days since september 11th, 2012? >> well, first of all, let me say mrs. smith deserves to have

all the access to the information she can be provided with. megyn, you're a mother, i'm a mother, this is absolutely the worst nightmare that any mother can possibly have. having said that, you're absolutely right. you know, despite the fact she does need answers, we do feed to get to the bottom of this, and it does take time. i will caution by saying we can't bring these people to justice within a month. it took us ten years and two administrations to bring osama bin laden to justice. you can't just snap your fingers and say let's go get the people who did this. we don't know potentially who they are, where they are, it takes time. and i think any reasonable person would agree you can't just go in and start shooting up a place. we need to find out exactly who did this. i am absolutely sure with this president who's gone after more terrorists through drone strikes, through the raid on the compound for osama bin laden and over and over again has demonstrated that he brings to justice the people that go after americans wherever they may be. i have no doubt whatsoever that this president will bring the

people responsible for mr. smith's death and that of ambassador stevens and everybody else who was involved for their death he will bring them o justice based on the record he's amassed over the past four years. megyn: marc, it's true the white house eventually got around to calling this a terrorist attack, but they did eventually. but mrs. smith last night tells cnn, she says, look, i look at the tv, and i see bloody hand prints on walls thinking is that my son's? remember that picture, that terrifying picture from the consulate on the day of the attack? susan rice spoke to me personally, and she says this was the way it was, that it was all because of this film that came out. and now we heard yesterday something very, very different. >> yeah, no, exactly right. i mean, what we found out, in fact, yesterday was that they watched it in realtime, that it wasn't 24 hours -- fox had reported it was 24 hours, within 24 hours they had determined it was a terrorist attack. the state department determined it was a terrorist attack in

realtime. so we spent weeks trying to pretend this was about an internet video when it was, in fact, a terrorist attack. what julie was saying about osama bin laden and bringing him to justice, this is the problem. the administration is treating this as a crime instead of an act of war. we are engaged in a war on terror. a terrorist just killed an american ambassador, and they've done it with impunity. there's no sign whatsoever that the administration is planning, much less has executed, a retaliation for this. i mean, to put this in context, again, the libyan people have done more to retaliate for the attack than america. hundreds of libyans marched on the compound of the terrorist mihm shah that was responsible for this -- militia that was responsible and burned it to the ground. what kind of signal does it send to the world that the libyan mob has done more than the president of the united states? >> i do have to say, marc, i would not want my president or if this were george bush, telegraphing what they're going to do. they just go in, and they do it. and this president has gone in

time and time again, and he's done it. he has gotten the people who have been responsible for so many terrorist attacks against americans abroad and against americans here many our homeland. let me remind you, he didn't go out there and say i'm going to go to pakistan, i'm going to get osama bin laden -- >> he actually did. >> and i will further more say that if you're worried about embassy security, perhaps talk to people like jason chaffetz of utah who conceded that embassy security was not his priority and, therefore, he cut funding that the president suggested for security, including the libya. >> oh, please, come on. >> we should really take the politics out of this. we should really try to not -- [inaudible conversations] megyn: i gotta run. >> you'llly, it's not about -- julie, it's not about politics. megyn: i gotta go. charlene lamb who is the deputy assistant secretary of state for the international programs testified yesterday that this had nothing to do with funding, that this was not a funding problem over in benghazi. so they may need more funding, but she did not attribute what

happened on 9/11 to a funding issue. that's yet another thing they're going to argue about on capitol hill. panel, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you, megyn. megyn: a new push to get american troops the recognition they deserve after major nidal hasan killed 13 and injured three dozen others at fort hood. sean manning was shot six times, he's got two bullets still in him, and his wife is here next on why she thinks victims are not getting what they deserve because it's still classified as workplace violence. [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken,

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scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. megyn: well, there is a new effort underway to give some recognition and benefits for the american troops killed and wounded in the deadly shooting at fort hood. the accused gunman is major nidal hasan, and he is awaiting trial, charged with opening fire at the fort hood army base back in 2009 killing 13 people and wounding more than three dozen

others. all while screaming "god is great" in arabic. this is one of the lasting images from the tragedy, the victims' coffins covered in flags enroute to arlington national cemetery. one of the wounded was staff sergeant sean manning who was shot six times. he barely survived this attack. he has two bullets still left inside of him. neither he, nor any of those wounded or killed have been given combat status for the event, and that means that they are not eligible for military honors like the purple heart and other related honors, despite their actions and sacrifice that hour hick day. instead, the obama administration insists on labeling this as domestic workplace violence. sergeant manning's wife is fighting to change that. autumn manning joins me now by phone. autumn, thank you so much for being here with us, and i know this has become a real cause for you because as we sit and watch major nidal hasan on trial collecting $6,000 a month because he's he's still on the federal payroll, your husband is

not getting the benefits that you belief he's entitled to because they just will not, they won't classify this as terrorism. they say it's workplace violence. your thoughts. >> my thoughts are, for one, the american people need to know that, you know, our administration has twice threatened to veto the purple heart bill on combat status when it comes before the senate. it's sat in the senate for two years, and for this administration to always try to control the narrative and cover the facts is shameful to these families. a lot of soldiers sacrificed things that day, and it's just -- it's very shameful. megyn: why wouldn't they do this? what is -- i mean, you are not the only one who's objected to it. we've had lawmakers, joe lieberman, an i independent, may republicans come out and say this was clearly terrorism, the guy was conferring with a known terrorist before the attacks, what is the reluctance as you you said it to designate it --

as you understand it to designate it as terrorism. >> i don't think this administration wants to use the t word, terrorism. a lot of victims feel even worse when they saw what was happening many libya because we can relate, and that was the feeling that we have. megyn: you know, i know that the president came, and he visited with many of the victims of this tragedy. you and your husband -- your husband, at least, was not one of the ones who received a visit. did barack obama ever reach out to him in any other way, did he call sean or reach out in another way? >> no, he did not. as a matter of fact, a lot of soldiers that day had received presidential coins because they were at a different hospital. my husband was airlifted to a different one. so his sister had sent a letter to the white house asking if we could receive a presidential coin, and their response was a form letter that said we'll look into it and get back to you, and three years later i've heard nothing. obama doesn't even want to talk about the november 5th victims at all, and it's absolutely

disgraceful. our soldiers put their lives online, so -- megyn: as i was preparing for this segment today, i saw some outrage online about that because somebody pointed out that the president took time to call sandra fluke who had been criticized by a radio host for something she said, but he didn't, you know, he never called your husband, a man who's been serving this country, was shot six times by a guy conspiring with a terrorist. you know, is there any way of rectifying the larger picture here, autumn, which is to get this redesignated and get combat status recognized here? >> all this administration needs to do is call it terrorism, and the dod will follow that line. i mean, he's already signed so many executive orders, what can he do not to just sign one more? he just needs to acknowledge that and let these soldiers get this combat status. combat status, those who died i think definitely deserve the purple heart. megyn: wow.

autumn manning, thank you for being here. thank you to you and your family for your service and all the best to your husband, sean. >> thank you. megyn: we'll be right back. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues

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megyn: new developments today in the case of a man who may have just set a new tsa record when it comes to bizarre security stops. investigators say the man was arrested wearing what appeared to be a bulletproof vest and carrying weapons in his luggage like smoke grenades, knives and body bags. and the people who take away your water say most of those are entirely legal. trace gallagher live from l.a. trace? >> reporter: and the list went on and on and on, megyn. 28-year-old harris says, in fact, he'll be in court tomorrow, so we might get a better idea exactly what his intent was and what he meant when he told authorities this

bizarre statement saying, hey, this is a game. investigators may have thought their questioning was a game, but they're very puzzled by that statement. harris is a u.s. citizen, teaches english to kids in china. he flew from china to korea, korea to japan and then on to lax. he was stop inside korea for wearing a bulletproof vest, and today checked his bags and amazingly they let him fly on. now, when he was stopped at customs in l.a., check it out, he was carrying a bulletproof vest, a smoke grenade, knives, hatchet, handcuffs, batteries, batons, billy clubs, a full-face respirator, body bags, a biohazard suit, leg irons. the only thing illegal in that whole mix was the hand grenades, the smoke grenades, rather x he was also carrying a copy of the poor man's james bond which goes over terror tactics used. he also halt yap news books --

had japanese books on rape and pornography which is a concern because he teaches english to chinese kids. still very unclear what his intent was, but tsa is talking to korean authorities, megyn, because they want to foe why in the world they let this guy fly on to los angeles. megyn: all right, trace. i had my own experience on the way down here to kentucky. it was with the good people -- i think -- at delta who couldn't manage to get my bag here, nor help herd smith's bag here. so while i had a pretty outfit all planned, i don't know where it is. last word was possibly detroit. so at 2 a.m. there i was live in the walmart -- look, this is my outfit. [laughter] live in the walmart, and god bless 'em, this sweater cost $12. i love it. so thankfully, i had these boots and these jeans from the plane ride -- >> reporter: i saw the scarf earlier, by the way, the scarf looked good. megyn: the control room told me they didn't like it, so i got

rid of that. but i did go crazy at wal-mart. so thanks to them. truly remarkable exchanges between jay carmy ask the white house press corps as they challenged him yesterday. next hour we'll speak with former white house press secretary dana perino about whether the white house has answered these allegations about a cover-up adequately.

megyn: fox news alert. hours to go before the first and only vice presidential debate and the big question is whether the political controversy over the deadly terror attack on our consulate in benghazi will take center stage. what coming to you from danville, kentucky, the site of the vice presidential debate. a fierce hearing on capitol hill had the white house playing defense over the administration's missteps in the wake of the attack.

the white house asserted the attack was over a movie. it got heated with press secretary jay carney asking the same questions. >> president shortly after the attack told 60 minutes regarding governor mitt romney's response to the attacks specifically in egypt. the president said romney has a tendency to shoot first and aim later. given the fact that so much was made out of the video that apparently has absolutely nothing to do with the attacks in been gas gassy. there wasn't an protest outside the benghazi post. didn't president obama shoot first and aim later? megyn: it did not get any easier for the president in the next 30 minutes. ed henry is in danville with

more. >> reporter: what's interesting is jay carney's response in part was this has been an evolving situation. new facts have emerged and that's why the administration's story has changed. but the question has not been aggressively questioned on this terror attack that was one month ago today in benghazi. the vice president has not done an actual interview in a month where he changed his administration policy on same-sex marriage. tonight that can change because the format is half domestic policy and half foreign policy. the moderator and martha raddatz or paul ryan could bring this up. in this hearing on capitol hill where new information was emerging that the state department never thought this

was a protest gone awri gone awd and others mislead the public because you didn't want to admit it was a terror attack? >> absolutely not. the president said it was an act of terror. >> why did you say the wasn't terrorism. >> i never said it wasn't terrorism. the president made that clear. >> reporter: you shear jay carney say he did not say it was not terrorism. when you go back to the transcripts officials did. they were down playing the possibility of terrorism and focusing on that anti-muslim video. this is close to the election. you haved the fbi investigation, the state department review, whether any of that information will come out before the election, or whether those investigation results be released after the election is

the other big question that's looming. megyn: ed henry, you are live in danville, kentucky. i'm live in danville, kentucky. i can hear you out of my left ear. come over here and let's have a little tv magic. check this out. >> reporter: how are you? this is for walmart. this looks great. not all of us can be as spiffy as you are. next time i'll carry on as 2 million people on twitter reminded me it's the right thing to do. here is how things will work tonight. the debate will take place from 9:00 to 10:30. it's the same site as the 2000 vice presidential debate. this debate will cover forei and domestic topics. it will consist of nine segments each 10 minutes.

they will open with a question, each guy gets two minutes to respond and the rest is a robust back and forth. the moderator will ask the opening questions. then the candidates will go back and forth. and we'll hear from the candidates as they sit down at a table and talk to one another man to plan. it all starts tonight 8:55 p.m. the obama campaign released a new ad entitled the seven habits of highly misleading people. stephanie cutter lists what she calls four of the biggest lies ryan has told in the past. since last wednesday's presidential debate we have heard a growing wave of complaints from the obama team suggesting the romney-ryan ticket has been less than truthful. >> are you saying governor romney lied or was dishonest? >> i think he was dishonest,

absolutely. plenty of people pointed out what a liar mitt romney was. if he was talking he was speaking last night he was lying. >> i think that we expected an aggressive debater to show up last night on the debate stage with barack obama. we didn't expect an aggressively dishonest debater to show up and that what we got with mitt romney. >> many people are situation they saw was the governor romney they had known all along and what's been the problem in the past is they haven't seen that person and he finally emerged during the debates. >> are you saying he lied through his teeth in the republican primaries where he said he will cut taxes for wealthy people? >> he's the etch a sketch guy and he transformed himself. we always have to wonder which mitt will show up. if you lay out lie after lie after lie about your tone plan as well as what the president is talking about of course you can look good.

megyn: ben le bolt, the national press secretary for obama. let me take you back to 2009. it was after the president had been called a liar by joe wilson on the floor of the house. in the wake of accepting that apology president obama said this. >> we have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big important issues that matter to the american people without vitriol, without name calling, without the assumptions of the worst in other people's motives. megyn: what happened to that message? >> well, i think the vice president's goal tonight is what the president just outlined, to have an honest conversation about what the impact of our policies have been. megyn: i'm asking you what

happened to that message. i want to talk to you about the vice presidential debate but i don't want you to spin. i want you to answer my question. my viewers will say let's have an answer to the question. the question is, president obama said no vitriol. no name calling. let's have an honest conversation without questioning a man's character. yet stephanie skirt and all those people you have just saw calling mitt romney a liar. what happened to president obama's commitment to no name calling and no character attacks. >> the fact is 28 days before election day mitt romney has suddenly decided to try to hide the policies h he's been advocating for the last six years. last week on the debate stage he pretended not to know anything about the central men is of his economic policy. if you have and preexisting condition he wasn't honest about

the impact of his policies on you. if you are between plans or between jobs you won't be covered under mitt romney's plan. paul ryan is the intellectual leader of the republican party according to mitt romney. the vice president's goal tonight is to have that conversation. they should have it about their policies. megyn: what i hear you saying is it's okay for the president to go back on that commitment through this team and surrogates and others because in your view mitt romney is a liar. you are saying it's justified because you believe it. >> i don't think our goal here is to name call. i think our goal here is to have an honest policy conversation, that's exactly what we are in the process of doing. the fact is, look at congressman ryan's record. look at his record during the convention. he blamed the president for the closure of a gm plant that was

slated for closure during the previous administration. megyn: i want to ask you about a comments you made on america's newsroom, you were critical of governor romney and his initial comment condemning the cairo embassy tweet. the embassy said we don't think religious feelings of muslims should be hurt. he criticized that statement and the obama administration criticized that statement saying they don't speak for us. you went on america's newsroom and said this. >> governor romney weighed in before he had a full set of facts about a developing situation. we are not going to do that. the president isn't somebody who shoots first and aims later. megyn: now in the wake of the testimony we heard on capitol hill about how this was a preplanned attack on our

embassy, on our consulate in libya, and it didn't have to do with the video, directly contrary to what this administration told us in the days after this attack, didn't you shoot first and aim later? >> i don't think so. what we have done is conduct an investigation led by the fbi and the state department that gathered all the available information out there. the director of national intelligence explained what may seem like a contradiction here by saying there was a clearer view of events that came into view over time, the fact is at the beginning the initial information that intelligence agencies were receiving was that in a situation in the middle east had been taken advantage of. there were protests across the region in response to a video. over time it became clear as more intelligence came in that these were premeditated acts carried out by terrorists. the president called this an act of terror within 24 hours of the

events. nobody is more committed to getting to the bottom what happened. and bringing them to justice than the president of the united states. megyn: it's great talking to you. appreciate you coming on. >> thanks for having me, megyn. megyn: the debate is tonight at 9:00 p.m., 8:55 eastern is when our special coverage begins. it's your one and only chance to see paul ryan and the vice president go head-to-head. we'll see you at 8:55 p.m. eastern. i'll be joined by bret baier. we'll bring you the debate and the analysis after the debate. it starts 8:55 p.m. on fnc. just ahead. dana pertoday -- dana perino wie

us on the white news press briefing. the bombshell charges against lance armstrong take the charges to a new level. >> i try not to let it bother me and keep rolling right along. i know what i know and i know what i do and i know what i dida and that's not going to change. the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. [ slap! ] [ slap! sp! slap! slap! ] ow! [ male announcer ] when your favorite foods fight you, fight back fast with tums smoothies. so fast and smooth, you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tutums [ male announcer ] tums smoothies.

>> there is no doubt i can make a better case, which is why i'm so looking forward to tuesday. >> why did it happen? al gore said it was the altitude? >> i'm not going to speculate on that. >> no lesson learned from it? >> one lesson learned is to make sure people understand how much is at stake and how deeply i care about it. megyn: that was president obama

speaking with abc's diane sawyer blaming his poor performance on being too polite. will he get more aggressive in his next go-around? joe trippi was campaign manager for howard dean, also advised gary hart and ed rollins the former national director for the reagan reelection campaign in '84. both men are fox news contributors. the president saying i had a rough night, but this is what he said to diane sawyer. i understand how much is at stake and i want to show how much i care about it. in this radio interview he said in the debate fair to say i was just too polite. joe, does he have it right? >> i think he tried to be presidential and he may think that's too polite. i think the president and everybody is too focused on the president's performance it wasn't a good one.

i never those was a good debater. what the debate was about is romney had a good performance. they are putting too much focus on the president's performance and not on what romney accomplished. >> romney has gone through 35 today he because it in the presidential elections. 20 this year. the vast majority debates he one by every measurement. he knows his stuff. he articulates his views. democrats may not like it, but at the end of the day he's a good debater. the president was lackluster. it was not like i was too polite. the bottom line is he wasn't there. he can get into the debate any time he wants to and i'm sure he will be better the next time. but at the end of the day don't think romney is going to walk away. romney made himself a viable alternative. this is a dead even race. megyn: one of the things the president said it was just the first debate. we have a couple more coming. if you want a great performance

and you can only have it in one debate would you prefer to have tonight your first debate or last debate? in other words, that first debate gave romney a nice bounce in the polls so the pollsters tell us. you tell me whether it's better to have it later. >> i think the president could have literally slammed the door shut on romney with a great debate performance had he won it. i think he would like to take that one back. but it is sort of the arc of all three. this is something that now that the door has been opened, romney walked through it. can he hold onto the gains he made? one of the questions i have -- all of the polls show a lot of the gains were with women. no republicans won women since george herbert walker bush did the in 1988. these are people obama could win back. biden could do it tonight. megyn: there is a theory out there by some that what we saw in the polls post the debate in denver wasn't so much a

reflection of mitt romney's performance. but it was more a reflection of an ever-tightening race that's been getting tighter than a lot of pollsters told us it was for weeks leading up to that debate and this will be a close election no matter what happens tonight, no mat wear happens in the next two presidential debates. >> i agree with that. the only difference is each of these things matter. if someone messes up tonight. you have got two bright men with two different views of the world. that what's we discussed the next three or four days. the presidential debates tuesday and the following one in florida will have a big impact. people are watching. they are trying to make these last two voters are trying to make up their minds and you can't diminish any element of this campaign. the advertising as we talked on your show, there is so much of it and it's so deadlocked that these live performances will have a far bigger impact than they have in the past. megyn: joe, does tonight matter?

>> absolutely. everything matters from this point on. i expect both campaigns tonight to try to -- ryan continue to try to reach out to those women that romney pulled in and bind is going to go at women, i think trying to win them back. that's the group that's up for grabs right now because of the last performance of romney. tonight is going to count and it's going matter. everything from here on in. megyn: i want to talk to you about the demographics. karl rove had an extraordinary piece out talking about how the demographics are changing in key states. we'll do that next. stay with me. i'm only in my 60's...

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>> the biggest winner, america. is there anything more exciting than joe biden thinking it's up to him to get the lead back? it's tvo time! there is. >> 50% chance he will come out in the next debate with his shirt off. he's covering himself with animal fat right now to make himself harder to grab. megyn: "saturday night live" makes a good point in a funny way. joe, his point is that the stakes are high and that vice president biden may feel pressure to do more than just be a steady eddy and that is potentially risky with a guy who is somewhat gaffe prone. >> i think joe biden is a very good debater. people don't remember him in debates too much. but he's very good and he's very seasoned. he's been through a lot. he's been in presidential debates since 1988. he knows what his task is

tonight. i think the wrestle be metaphor is not a bad one. he's the bigger guy with more weight on him, the guy who wrestles you to the ground. ryan is quicker, wired and more nimble kinds of a kung fu fighter. it will be interesting. i hate to use a sports metaphor but i think that's what we are in for tonight. megyn: ed rollins, senior romney advisers say if ryan wins or it's a draw the romney-ryan ticket wins. >> i think ryan will win. even though biden ran more president he got 1% last time before he dropped out. he hasn't had great appeal. sarah palin with her lack of experience stood toe to toe on him. ryan is the smartest republican on the hill. you will find a tough opponent who knows the issues better than

anybody. megyn: karl rove talks about the debate we saw in denver between romney and obama may be among the most consequential in history. it might end up as the election decision point. he talks about the polls and he goes through north carolina early voting, this is one of the swing states everybody is watching. in 2008 he said the democrats had a 21-point advantage early voting. now they are 26 points behind the republicans. he says in florida. in 2008 the democrats had a 9-point advantage over the republicans when it came to absentee ballots now they are 8 points behind. he thinks given the way this election is unfolding in october before we get to november 6, that early victory by mitt romney may be hugely significant. >> i agree with karl. i think there is an energy in

our party. i agree with what was said earlier. if romney hadn't had a good debate the race might have been over. we think we can win. i said it on this show several times. we are energized. we are trying to do the organizational stuff to make sure we don't lose this thing by absentee ballots. we think romney has done the job stan will continue to do the job. we are intense as a party. megyn: those numbers are being looked at by the campaigns. polls can change. we have seen that the past weeks and months. but they are pushing barack obama to be more aggressive in the next debate. he's saying he feels he was too polite in the last one. and yet karl's point is there is a real risk to president obama in looking too aggressive or even possibly angry in the eyes of american voters because we don't tend to respond well to anger. >> they don't respond well to an angry president. i don't think that's what you are going to see.

i do agree with ed, look, the debate created a lot of energy, and if you are seeing it on the republican side and obviously the polls have closed. i do think -- i caution about this early voting thing. it doesn't matter. 100% of of your voters vote before election day you are not going to get any gain. fit many people who are going to vote anyway it does change any way. what it says to me there are a lot of people out there anxious to vote for romney against the president, whether it's motivated for him or against him. and 2008 i might say that same energy was there for obama in terms of replacing the republican. so election day still matters and on that day the obama campaign has an organizational advantage. but we'll see. megyn: it's going to be fascinating to see how these two men do. a 30-year age difference between

them. but a lot of capitol hill experience. >> i look fabulous. megyn: $12. go walmart. >> on a million dollar face the doesn't matter. megyn: lance armstrong is being called the most sophisticated doper in sports history. it was all a fraud? he cheated the whole time? that what's they are saying. we are going to take up the case in "kelly's court." the white house and the state department faced ugly questions yesterday on the benghazi killings. dana perino is next. >> i do not agree with your assessment he hasn't been talking about this.

it is the case there is a campaign going on and he is out there just like his opponent talking about a variety of issues that are of interest to the american people. at 33 years old, i was having a heart attack. now i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i didn't know this could happen so young. take control, talk to your doctor. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪

megyn: the white house under pressure and defending its initial reaction to the deadly terrorist attacks that we saw at our consulate in libya on 9/11. we wait to see how this plays in tonight's vice presidential

debate. look at the white house press corps pushing jay carney for answers on this question yesterday afternoon. >> given the fact that so as much was made out of the video that apparently had absolutely nothing to do with the attack on benghazi, that there wasn't even a protest outside the benghazi post, didn't president obama shoot first and aim later? >> i think your assessment of what we know now is not complete. but i would say that the. >> i'm talking about what the state department said yesterday. >> there is no question in the region including cairo there were demonstrations reacting to the relieves that video. and i will leave it to those testifying on the hill to talk about as they are -- >> there was no protest. that's not what you said. i'm talking about benghazi. >> you are citing september 12 the president called it terrorism. then why were you at this podium

for several days after that saying it's not terrorism. >> i never said that. there is an issue about the definition of terrorism. >> why isn't the president giving a speech to the american people instead the republicans are hitting him for talking about big bird for several days on the campaign trail. he doesn't talk about this act of terror when he goes out and talks with voters. >> i do not agree with your assessment he hasn't been talking about this. it is the case there is a campaign going on as he's out there just like his opponent talking about a variety of issues of interest to the american people. megyn: i sent out a link to the full transthe script of yesterday's briefing if you want to see how it unfolded firsthand. dana perino is cohost of "the five." i think this is confusing for folks at home. there is so much spin and there

is so much back and forth. but what happened was four americans got killed in benghazi on september 11 of this year. we not was a planned terror attack. the administration told nuts days after that it was a spontaneous demonstration that went awry because people were upset about a video. now they are saying we never ruled out terror and we gave the best explanation as we had it. they are explicitly blaming security officials. >> when you say the administration is under considerable pressure from the white house press corps. they better keep that pressure on. does the administration feel no responsibilities to the people that were killed, to those families or to the american taxpayer who has watched and from the first day was told this was all sparked because of a video.

that turned out not to be true. on the record the state department officials saying we never thought that. if i were the white house press secretary i would have said you guys have some valid questions. but before i went in think would have made sure i knew what people said. you watch special. >> reporter: and the timeline bret baier -- if you watch "special report" and the time line bret baier has it's very damning. they have left the will be extremely exposed. with your own eyes you can listen and hear what they said. look at the video and know secretary clinton standing next to the remains of ambassador stevens blames the video four days later. the united nations ambassador said emphatically on the sunday shows while you can look at the evidence on the t.v. screen and come to your own conclusions and know this is a terror attack.

megyn: on this show we watched this live and we heard hillary clinton and barack obama. still it was all about a video it was all about a video. the friday after these four men were murder on a tuesday. what the state department said yesterday was extraordinary and what they told reporters in a briefing the night before. so four days later hillary clinton and barack obama are saying it's about a video and it was spontaneous. let me put on the full screen what we learned yesterday. look what was happening at consulate in libya. there was no protest. fox news reported this weeks ago and there was pushback whether we were right. the official accounts is 7:30 p.m. ambassador steven meets with the turkish diplomat. at 8:30 nobody is reported on the streets. 9:40 p.m. cameras showed armed

men up raiding the compounds with rocket grenades on their shoulders. how many do we have missing right now? 10,000 to 20,000. there was no protest. this is what the administration knew. on top of that hillary clinton, the secretary of state is telling us on friday it's about the video. listen to what the state department. look at the second fill screen. listen to what the state department officials said when they were asked -- wait a minute. what in all of the events that you described talking about this, the ticktock on the night he died led you to believe this was prompted by protested against the video. look at the response. stand by. that is a question would you have to ask others. that was not our conclusion. the state department did not believe it was about the video is what they are saying. yet the secretary of state had a different message. >> i think there is something going on here. the civil servants at the state

department. those -- the lifelong career diplomats who work at the state department, they are in open revolt and for very good reason. yesterday i thought it would have been a standup thing to do for secretary clinton to tef. all the career officials at the state department who hard every day know they were thrown under the bus. barack obama is extremely exposed because of this very thing. this question the reporter asked. nobody has come to a conclusion on and we are going to keep asking it. who was the original source. who originally told the white house and state department to use the video as an excuse. who was it? megyn: i want to speak to that. there were reports in the days after the attack that suggested that it was general david petraeus who heads under the cia who went before them and blamed this on a video. there was reporting by catherine herridge on that today suggesting a briefingly petraeus suggested the video was to

blame. if that is true. if the head of the cia told lawmakers and told susan rice and told the administration this is about the video, they may be to blame for not questioning that and pronouncing it true. but are they to be blamed for saying what the cia director was allegedly telling them? >> they should follow that trail wherever it leads. if you think about the dni statement. they said the original talking points came from the cia. i knew on the first night they would end up trying to blame the intel communities for this. but to follow that where it is and we need to know. if our intelligence is that bad after all the time and reors and effort we put into making sure we have what we need to prevent a future terrorist attack we have bigger problems than that. going back to the white house. even in the days when they knew that the video was no longer the excuse, they still used it. because they wanted it to be

true. megyn: because it fit a narrative. >> the press secretary says that. there is a campaign. so what? the worst mistake they made on this campaign was the day ambassador stevens died they sent barack obama to las vegas for a fundraiser. the first interview he did after this was david letter maine. megyn: testimony by charlene lamb, the deputy assistant secretary of state said the government had the correct number of assets in benghazi at the time. suggesting the security was adequate. >> she is contradicted by lieutenant colonel wood who says when he was there he knew they were sitting ducks. if they didn't get more protection it was a matter of time before there was an attack.

unfortunately if our intel was that bad that's one thing. the second thing is somebody lied to the american people and we deserve to know who. megyn: this will almost certainly come up tonight at the vice presidential debate. dana perino, see you on "the five." coming up next. lance armstrong. was it all a lie? "kelly's court" is next. eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. you know the giants don't have a mascot right mom? [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

megyn: the u.s. anti-doping agency calling lance arm front kingpin of the most sophisticated doping scandal in recent history. he demands this report. he wanted to know who said what about him. well, they complied. the more than 200-page you report is filled with testimony from 11 of his former teammates who say they saw him doping to help him win every single one of

this tour desan francisco titles. they say he demand his teammates do the same thing to help him win. for years he denied doping. in february federal authorities decided to drop a criminal investigation into the matter. but the u.s. anti-doping agency did its own investigation. in santiago when they said he was guilty of doping, cheating for years, he decide not to fight it. as a result he was stripped of his title. his lawyer called the agency report a one-sided hatchet job. but now that all the details are not you. could the do no wrong cyclist be facing a new string of legal troubles? joining me is mercedes colwin and arthur aidala. i don't pay that much attention to sports but i know the legacy

of this guy. he overcame adversity. this report is so damning. i don't know if it's true, but as a lawyer. 26 witnesses, 11 former teammates. not just people who have an axe to grind. one of his closest and most loyal teammates came out and said look he did the and he pressures us all to do it. >> it's so true, megyn. i don't know how he can come out from under this. when you look at this report, there are 26 affidavits from different individuals. where there is smoke, there is fire. you can't say all those 26 people are liars and have axes to grind. all those 26 people have motivation to lie under oath. you lie to the federal authorities you have got perjury charges waiting pat the foot of your door.

the 200-page report has a lot of evidence, a lot of the doping information that came forward in terms of his blood test. all of this so damning i'm not sure he can get out from under. megyn: his response is these are serial pesear -- serial perjure. the reward at the end of the stick is so great for those people who may have done that -- here is the question, megyn. you have the united states attorney of los angeles which is a pretty big office, i believe it may be the biggest -- they do a two-year investigation. they have assistant u.s. attorneys traveling to europe, italy, france, meeting with counterparts there, spending i'm sure hundreds of thousands of dollars for two years to dismiss it all?

>> jury nullification. megyn: i have got three words for you. statute of limitations problems with the case as well because time was running out. there is much more to discuss. we'll do it on the opposite side of this break. three more words. be right back. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it mahelp lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just he to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills.

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megyn: all right. mercedes and arthur back with me now. you look at this report and it goes on and on, the length of the cheating and the extent to which. it wasn't just the cheating. they claim they found six samples from his blood that they saved. but they say they had testimony from all the teammates that he pressured them to do it. his ex-wife was pressured to wrap cortisone pills in foil.

the list of cheating, arthur, the details is so intricate. what normal person is going to walk away from this thinking everyone is lying but arm strong. >> i can't disagree with what you say because i would lose credibility. but i have to look at this from the standpoint after lawyer. he has been tests and retested before every race. megyn: the retest showed a problem. >> he has never been sanctioned by the people who did the test at the time of the race. i would like to go back to the u.s. attorney. mercedes and i are up against the u.s. attorney's office all the time. they rarely put in those kind of resource and fail to make an arrest. the statute of limitations under a rico * claim ... >> they sat back and said we are going to take down a hero, a man

that has gathered up half a billion dollars to cure cancer. a man who beat the odds and did what he did despite the cancer. megyn: it's indicative of a much bigger problem. good for him for the help he's given to people suffering. but if this is true, if he's a liar and a cheat, he's a liar and a cheat and he's no example for children because he didn't do it honestly. he lied to all of us and is not somebody for to us hold up on the pedestal. that's just sad. arthur, i'll give you the last word on that one. >> if it's true, it's win at all costs. again, i just pause because there were so many other entities that cleared him, including the united states government that he i'm not going to jump to the ultimate conclusion that he did it. megyn: panel, thank you. we'll be back with an update on

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